In January of 2020, I left my home in Washington and Blake left his home in Texas to travel to Medford, Oregon for a travel nurse contract. We met on the first day of orientation and became friends right away. One day, I suggested that we go out for dinner and drinks (thinking that Blake would bring Shelby along.) Little to my knowledge Blake would show up alone, making this one of our many first dates. We joke that we had multiple first dates because I was oblivious that Blake was interested in more. It wasn’t until Blake picked me up with a bouquet of flowers in his hands that I realized we were sharing a date. We went wine tasting that day and once again, I had a friend tag along because I thought this was just another friendly outing. We finally had our first “real” date the next day. We took a three hour road trip to the beach and spent the whole day together. That night we shared our first kiss.

During this time Covid was taking a toll on the world around us and shortly into our relationship we went into a lock down. We spent a lot of time together cooped up in an RV but I think this is when we both realized how well we got along. Our contract was coming to an end and I was heart broken over the thought of going our separate ways. Blake had already landed a full time job in Bend and I was still up in the air about where I would go next. One day, we were sitting there and my nurse recruiter texted me about a job opening in Bend. I showed Blake and he urged me to apply. The next day I had an interview with the manager and was offered the job that evening. Blake offered to let me move in with him and Shelby. Although the thought of moving in with someone I barely knew sounded absolutely crazy, I accepted his offer. In April of 2020 we packed up and moved to Bend and started our life together. Thinking back on it now, neither of us were excited about Medford but it seems like that’s where we were meant to be so that we could meet each other.